Black Sun Ensemble

Black Sun Ensemble Lambent Flame

released on Reckless Records (1989)
[ti_audio name="Black Sun Ensemble Lambent Flame"]
Jesus Acedo â€“ guitars; Odin Helgison - vocals, guitars; Michael Glidewell - bass;Â John Brett â€“ drums; Duane Norman - sax, flute; Merlin â€“ flute
songs - Celestial Cornerstone, Da Da is GaGa, Sunset on the Sphinx, Three Picks in a bottle (somewhere out there), Leviathan Song, Lilith, The Burning Lamp, Beneath the Sapphire Sky, Blues for Rainer
Jesus Acedo is the guitar guru of the Black Sun Ensemble, and itâ€™s his varying textures and overlays that make this group tick- the trippy Eastern mysticism, spaced-out Santana-isms, flights of Zappa proportion, jagged jaunts of Ulmer intensity, ringing feedback-heavy crunch or loopy, sizzling sun-baked Meat Puppets riffs.Â Acedo is aided by some graceful yet fleeting flute/sax which summons the melody line and fuels his fire, as well as a rhythm section thatâ€™s gotta stay on its toes to keep pace.Â They provide down to earth structures for Acedoâ€™s freer form passages and should be grasping for air after all the timeÂ changes and mood shifts that he leadsthem through.Â Acedo hyperspaces into a dimension only the spirit of Hendrix has seen, but just because he gets otherworldly on us doesnâ€™t mean heâ€™s not working within the context of an overall group sound.Â Their second album adds vocals (reminiscent of an Eastern Richard Thompson) to the Black Sun Ensemble picture (the gentle â€śLillithâ€ť and â€śBeneath the Sapphire Skyâ€ť) for the first time, but the instrumentals continue to reign supreme, especially the higher altitudes of â€śCelestial Cornerstoneâ€ť and â€śBlues for Rainer.â€ť â€“ CMJ REPORT 2/24/1989Now imagine the later Ummagumma-style Floyd zoning on psilocybin and frying out in the Arizona sun.Â Lambent Flame the second album by Tucsonâ€™s Black Sun Ensemble, is serious ghost-dance psychedelia, starring the agro-raga guitar of leader Jesus Acedo.Â The cosmic flippancy of titles like â€śSunset on the Sphinxâ€ť and â€śDa Da is Gagaâ€ť belies the earthy wallop of the band and the urgent concentration of Acedoâ€™s soloing. â€“ DAVID FRICKE, ROLLING STONELILITH (Lambent Flame)
"Lambent Flame was also a great momentÂ in time for Black Sun and is arguable one of the best records.Â I have several favorite tracks on this record for different reasons, but I would have to say that Lilith is my favorite. The music, although mainly switching between two chords, is just great.Â For me it catches the mood of the sun having just gone down in the desert in midÂ summer.Â The heat burns off slightly, and everything seems to relax (I mean even the trees seem to calm down a bit!)Â The lyric form the Crowley Book of the Law just adds a magical feel.Â Great overdubs,Â instrumentation and choices throughout!"Â -Brian Maloney, saxLILITH(Lambent Flame)
"A dreamy spell of a song.Â Jesus maintains that Odin stayed late in the studio after they recorded the basic tracks and â€śdid some magicâ€ť on them.Â The â€śTomorrow Never Knowsâ€ť drumbeat, first heard in â€śDada is Ga Gaâ€ť is frenetic solo break, is here slowed down to a sleepwalking pulse.Â Languorous guitars pick gently around it, while Odinâ€™s vocals and e-bowed leads float gently upward.Â John Brettâ€™s change-up backbeat cuts through to focus the vision into euphoric clarity before letting it free to disappear into clouds."Â -Otto Terrorist, drummerLILITH(Lambent Flame)
"Lillith...So many nights long ago I used to listen to that song and it made me cry or would take me to a place I needed to go to do some deep soul searching. Â Still does. Brilliant!"Â -Jonathan Levitt, BSE videographerDADA IS GAGA (Lambent Flame)
"Celestial Cornerstone was a good opener but by the time Dada is Gaga starts you know in for something extraordinary.Â I had an Indian friend at the time, I remember listening to this song over at his dad's house.Â His dad came over and said that the singer was singing in Hindi!Â Just another example of magic -when did Odin learn to sing in Hindi?"Â -Eric Johnson, bassistBLACK SUN ENSEMBLE WOULD LIKE TO THANK: John Lennon, Isis, Apollo, The Round Table, Mt. Olympus, Sisters Of The Moon and all the Divine Fools of Jupiter,â€¨and let us not forget Master Therion.